Obscure Fate
by Syrus
Summary: Sequel to Shocking Disclosure. Phoenix takes yet another crazy case, and both he and Miles Edgeworth find themselves in the middle of something they never imagined could be true. Original court case!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_How do I get myself wrapped up in these types of cases all the time? _Phoenix thought to himself dryly as he approached the scene of the murder involved in his case.

The large, old, rickety house lay before him in the twilight, and as he looked at it, he felt a little shiver, never much fond of houses that looked like they were haunted. Slowly he made his way to the door, swearing he heard the whole house groan as he made his way inside.

_Well, the quicker I finish my investigation, the faster I can get out of this place..._Phoenix thought to himself.

From what his client told him, the murder took place on the second floor, in the room at the end of the hall. Phoenix took a big gulp as he examined the stairs, almost feeling like they would collapse the minute someone stepped on them.

Miles had finished work a little earlier than usual. He was now sitting at home planning what to cook for dinner.

_I wonder when Phoenix will be home..._? _Maybe I should call him._ Miles thought as he gave a quick glance at his cell phone.

All Miles knew was that Phoenix had to investigate for a case today. It seemed that whenever Miles had free time, Phoenix didn't. It was the same when Phoenix wasn't busy.

Phoenix carefully stepped on each step, every one of them creaking like nobody's business. He let out a sigh of relief when he safely made it to the top. He made his way down the hall to the room where the murder took place, and he found a horrific scene waiting for him. 

There seemed to be blood everywhere. Phoenix was just glad that he hadn't come when the bodies were still here.

_How could someone do something like this? _ Phoenix thought, feeling horrified and disgusted by the scene in front of him, _How could someone disrespect human life this much...?_

Phoenix hesitantly stepped into the room to start his investigation. Almost immediately, the room began to shake. It started like a little quiver, but it got bigger, almost knocking Phoenix off his feet.

_An earthquake?! In here?!_ Phoenix thought in shock, realizing this was probably the worst place to be in an earthquake.

The house was creaking and groaning loudly due to the quake, and this didn't help Phoenix's nerves much either. He just tried to stay standing, when suddenly there was a loud cracking noise. His eyes shot upward, realizing the noise came from a loose rafter above him that was just about to fall.

_I...I have to get out of here!_ Phoenix thought, trying to get himself into movement.

But all this did was make him lose his balance. As he tried to get back on his feet, the rafter finally cracked and broke, falling on his leg.

Phoenix screamed in pain when it fell on him, almost certain that something in his leg must have at least fractured. He was glad that the house had finally stopped shaking.

_But now how do I get out of here?_ Phoenix thought, trying to think of what he could do, but the pain from his leg kept clouding his thoughts.

The earthquake had caught Miles totally off guard. As unwelcome memories of the fateful day his father died flooded his mind, he felt like curling up somewhere safe when a thought passed through his mind, _Where's Phoenix?_

So many possibilities came to mind and he became more and more worried. Instead of hiding away cowardly, his hand instantly shot for his phone and was dialing Phoenix's number.

Miles found that this time, he was more afraid of what happened to Phoenix than being afraid of the earthquake itself.

_Why do I have a horrible feeling when I think of him? _He thought as put the phone to his ear, listening to it ring, _Oh god, please pick up, Phoenix...  
_  
Pess ran to him when the earthquake started and he hugged the dog tightly. His heart was pounding furiously and he felt as though his whole body went numb. But he had to find out what happened to Phoenix.

_Damn it! Just hurry and pick up your phone so I can know you're ok..._ Miles thought started to doubt that was the case.

Phoenix heard his phone ringing, and he frantically looked for it in his coat to ask whoever was calling for help. He realized the phone had bounced out of his pocket during the quake and it looked like the phone was just out of his reach. He tried his best to stretch out and grab the phone, but he just couldn't get it and his leg was in absolute agony.

_Damn it._ Phoenix thought, feeling a little hopeless.

Miles must have called him at least ten times by now. Each call, he became more and more afraid of Phoenix's current condition. He finally let the arm with his phone in it drop lifelessly to his side.

_Wait! Someone has got to know where Phoenix is._ Miles thought as he called the first person that came to mind: Phoenix's cousin, Mai. _She should know what case Phoenix took or at least the current cases that are available. Phoenix always tended to take the most ridiculous ones he had ever heard of. _

Luckily the both of them pinned a list of important phone numbers to their refrigerator, Mai's number obviously on there. He quickly dialed her work phone number.

_I'll find where you are...no matter what it takes._

Mai's phone had been ringing off the hook all day, especially with the new murder case that had just come in. The autopsy report had just been completed, and since she knew Phoenix had taken this case, she thought she could just drop by his office to give it to him.

_At least that'd give me a little break from all of this craziness..._Mai thought, feeling very tired all of a sudden.

Suddenly her phone rang, and she almost didn't want to pick it up. But she knew that this was all part of the job, so after a couple rings, she willed herself to.

"Detective Wright speaking." she said very unenthusiastically, just expecting it to be someone adding on yet another thing for her to do today.

"Ms. Wright do you know where Phoenix is?" Miles hurriedly asked with no introduction of himself, his voice sounding urgent and extremely worried. "I need to know this instant." He'd apologize for his rudeness later, but right now the only thing that was on his mind was Phoenix.

By now, Miles had forgotten that the earthquake was the cause of this worry. He hadn't realized that he had stood up and now was pacing the room he was in nervously. _Why do I feel like this one phone call will decide everything? _

Mai was shocked to hear Miles's voice on the phone and she responded saying, "Oh, did you try his office phone, or his cell phone?"

"I tried his cell phone," he said, leaving the part out of exactly how many times he did call. "I just need to know where he went." _He must still be at the crime scene..._

"The only place I can see him being is at the scene of that murder that happened yesterday. He did take that case after all." Mai said, noting that Miles seemed to sound worried as he spoke to her on the phone, "If you don't mind me asking...is...something wrong?"

Miles thought for a second before the location clicked in his mind. He had passed by that house many times. It was easy to remember as so many people around his house talked about it countless times. Of all the places he could be! He knew very well the condition of that house and an earthquake could easily destroy it.

"I'm going to hang up now. I need you to call an ambulance right after I hang up." He knew he would have to give her reasons why, so he told Mai about the house and its current condition.

"Oh, God...you don't think..." Mai said in shock.

"I'm going to hang up now." Miles didn't wait for a reply as he hung up his phone. Miles soon found himself running out of his house heading towards the crime scene. He called Phoenix one final time, although he was pretty sure it would be a waste of time.

Phoenix heard his phone ringing yet again, trying to reach for it, but still failing. He wished that he hadn't been trapped under the ceiling beam on his stomach, that way, he could have at least tried to push the beam off of his leg. But now, there was nothing he could do but wait. This was especially hard since there was nothing to distract him from the pain in his leg.

_God, I hope someone comes in here soon..._Phoenix thought, groaning in pain.

Miles hung up, putting his phone in his pocket, as he ran inside the creaking house without hesitating. As he quickly scanned the place, he spotted the staircase. He would check upstairs first. It was the most dangerous area and he'd rather go through there now instead of later. As Miles quickly ran up the stairs, one of the steps broke under his foot. He fell painfully, also yelling in surprise. He quickly got up, and hurried onto the second floor, not wanting to find out if the staircase would cave in or not.

Phoenix thought he heard someone's voice from down the hall, so he yelled, "Is anyone there!?"

He was so glad someone had finally gotten here.

_So he is up here..._Miles ran towards where he heard Phoenix's voice. As he stepped into the room the first thing he noticed was all the blood. It sent shivers down his spine just thinking of the possibilities of what happened. He then noticed Phoenix stuck under the rafter.

"Phoenix!" Miles was relieved the other wasn't in any critical condition, but seeing him like he was still scared him.

"Miles!" Phoenix said, so happy to see Miles, "The beam...it fell on my leg during the earthquake."

Phoenix tried to gesture towards the beam, but he had a little trouble since he was face down on the floor.

"I can see that." Miles ran over and started pulling the beam off Phoenix. He didn't care if the wood dug into his palms or how heavy it was as long as he got it off.

Miles found that the beam was a lot heavier than he thought and hoped. But he was able to lift the beam high enough to have Phoenix get his leg out from under it.

Phoenix quickly tugged his leg out from under the beam before Miles dropped it and it crashed to the floor again.

"God, I'm so glad you came." Phoenix said, trying to smile, but the pain in his leg only making him cringe.

"We need to get out of here." From what he could tell, Phoenix probably either fractured or even broken his leg. He could probably carry Phoenix, if he tried. It wouldn't mean that it'd be easy as he would have to carry him down a fleet of stairs that could break at any given moment. But Miles probably didn't have much of a choice for that matter.

Putting Phoenix's cell phone in his pocket, Miles kneeled next to Phoenix. He put Phoenix's arm over his shoulder before lifting him up, keeping as much as Phoenix's weight on himself and away from the injured leg.

Phoenix could feel Miles's muscles really tense when he picked him up, and for some reason, he suddenly wished he weighed just a bit less.

"How are we going to get downstairs? I mean, those stairs..." Phoenix said as he tried to balance himself on one leg and Miles's shoulder.

"I'd tell you if I knew..." Miles wasn't sure himself. Hopefully the ambulance would be here soon. "I know how weak those stairs are, you probably heard me yell..."

"I was wondering about that..." Phoenix said, now that it made sense, "I guess we could try getting down slowly..."

But Phoenix's voice sounded unsure since he thought the steps would cave in even when someone wasn't trying to step heavily on them. He sometimes wondered why this house was still standing.

"I suppose we should just wait for the ambulance to come instead. It would be stupid trying to get down those stairs in your current condition." He didn't want Phoenix to get hurt even more, and it would be bad if he also got injured himself.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Phoenix said, noticing that his one leg was getting tired from most of his weight being on it.

As if it was right on cue, they began to hear sirens outside the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Miles slowly sat Phoenix and himself back on the ground.

"You know, you really worried me when you didn't pick up. Enough for me to forget about the earthquake itself." He felt his eyes water suddenly as he realized just how important Phoenix was to him and how much it hurt thinking that one more earthquake could have caused the loss of yet another loved one.

Phoenix immediately noticed Miles tearing up, so he scooted himself closer until he was facing Miles and he softly said, "Miles..."

He raised his hand to Miles's face slowly and he gently wiped the tear away.

Miles didn't want to say anything more, finding himself emotionally strained. He was glad that everything would almost be over and he could relax now.

"Don't ever scare me like that again..." Miles said, not looking at Phoenix, knowing that if he made eye contact with him, more tears may escape his eyes.

Phoenix gave Miles a small smile and said, "I don't plan on it."

Suddenly they both heard a lot of noise downstairs and then they heard someone yelling, "Is anyone there?!"

"We're up here!" Miles cleared his throat as he replied to the people downstairs. He looked at Phoenix. "Glad that this is almost over. Although you probably won't be doing much with that leg for a little while."

"But I have to go to court. I can't let Jones be falsely convicted." Phoenix said with conviction.

They heard more noise downstairs as the paramedics quickly realized that the stairs were not really fit for use.

"The stairs seem rather weak, so we're going to just send one person up to help you. How many of you are up there?" one of the paramedics asked.

"There's two of us up here," Miles said, answering the paramedic's question. _At least they're smart enough not to all go up the stairs...  
_  
Miles saw the determined look Phoenix had in his eyes and he knew that it would be useless to convince him of otherwise.

He sighed, saying, "You're going to be hospitalized for sure. So...I'll take your place for the trial. I'll have your cousin fill me in on the details and I will need all the evidence I can get." He wondered how everyone would react to the demon prosecutor suddenly being a defense attorney for a trial.

Phoenix was momentarily surprised by Miles's suggestion, but he decided that he wouldn't argue with Miles over this, realizing that they probably wouldn't let him out of the hospital for at least a couple of days.

"Alright." Phoenix finally agreed, but he continued speaking with a grateful tone, "Thanks..."

Finally a paramedic made it to the room, and both he and Miles helped Phoenix up and to the stairs.

* * *

After asking the receptionist for Phoenix's room number, Miles made his way to where he was. He walked in seeing that the nurse had already left to help other patients. Phoenix was lying on the bed, obviously wanting to be anywhere else but the hospital.

"Are you okay, Phoenix?" He looked at Phoenix worriedly.

"Miles!" Phoenix said happily, and without thinking he jerked himself in Miles's direction and suddenly grimaced in pain from his leg.

When Phoenix got himself back in a comfortable position, he said, "Yeah, I'm fine. But, god, I hate hospitals..."

Miles rolled his eyes. _Of course he'd react without thinking.  
_  
"I know how you feel. So did the doctor tell you how long you'll be wearing that cast?" He didn't need to actually be in one to know that those things were annoying as heck.

"Way too long in my opinion." Phoenix said as he made a face, "They said at least a month."

"We can make the time longer," Miles said, suddenly getting a little irritated, "You're lucky it isn't worse! What would have happened if that beam fell somewhere else?! It could have as easily fallen on your face rather than your leg."

Miles folded his arms. "I was worried about you the whole time too. I was so worried that I didn't give the earthquake that occurred a second thought. And all you're worried about is a month of wearing a cast." It was obvious that a lot of things were starting to get to him.

The sour expression on Phoenix's face which was brought on by news of the cast was quickly replaced with a look of surprise and hurt with Miles's sudden and sharp words. Phoenix now felt terribly selfish.

_I shouldn't be here complaining about the stupid cast when it could have been so much worse._ Phoenix thought guiltily, _And I know what earthquakes do to him...I wish I could have been there...  
_  
"Miles..." Phoenix said softly, not knowing what to say.

Miles ran a hand through his hair sighing.

"This is no time to be thinking of ourselves. We have a client to help." Miles seated himself next to Phoenix, a determined look in his eyes. "I'm going to need everything you know, down to the last detail, Phoenix." _I promised to help him, but I need at least some type of lead to get started..._

Miles knew Phoenix hadn't done enough investigating to actually get a sufficient amount of information, but he had to know something.

Miles knew that taking over for Phoenix was going to be a lot of work, but he had already agreed and there was no point in beating around the bush about it. _What have I gotten myself into anyways?_

When Miles took a seat next to Phoenix on the bed, Phoenix reached forward and took Miles's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. Then he looked at Miles seriously and spoke.

"Our client's name is Fred Jones. They think he murdered his parents brutally, and they arrested him since they found clothes with his parents' blood all over them in his apartment. That's really all the information I had on it. I was going to investigate the scene when the earthquake happened."

Miles held onto his hand tightly, thinking over what Phoenix had just told him.

"So did you talk to him personally at the detention center already?" Perhaps Miles would get some background history on the whole family. It didn't make sense to him that someone would kill their own parents in such a way. "Did they find anything else at his apartment?" _Why did Phoenix have to go and pick such a hard case..._

"Yeah, a friend of his begged me to take the case since I seem to have a bit of a reputation with these types of cases. So I dropped by the detention center and discussed this with Jones himself, and after that I went to the scene of the crime. As far as I know, I don't think they found anything else there, but maybe you can ask Mai or Gumshoe for more information if either them were on the case." Phoenix said, wishing he had more to tell Miles about the case.

He knew this case would be long and tiring, and he felt sad that Miles now had the whole burden on himself.

Miles rubbed his temples and thought, _The next few days are going to be too long...  
_  
"Alright, I'll go pay a visit to the detention center after I call Ms. Wright. I need the autopsy report from her anyways."

_I'll get Gumshoe to help too..._ He knew Gumshoe wouldn't say no to him anyways. He would have to check the crime scene again too. _Wonderful, I get to return to a house that may collapse at any second.  
_  
"I better be going now." Miles stood up. "I'll see you later Phoenix."

Phoenix was still holding on to Miles's hand, so he pulled him toward himself and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. Then he gave Miles a small smile and let his hand go.

"Come back and update me...I know I'm going to be dying of boredom in here..." Phoenix said.

"Alright, I will." Miles felt a little bad for Phoenix who seemed to always be everywhere. Now he was stuck in one spot with nothing to do.

"Don't die now, I'll be mad if you do," Miles said smiling softly.

"Oh, please...you know that would be much too easy." Phoenix replied dryly, but he did smile back at Miles.

As Miles walked out of the hospital he called Mai.

_I bet I'm going to hate myself after all of this..._

* * *

Mai's phone was ringing yet again, and she almost felt like just leaving it of the hook for a while, not wanting to deal with yet another call having to do with the Jones case. She almost didn't pick up the phone, but then she knew that her boss wouldn't take well to her refusing work calls, so she hesitantly picked up the phone.

"Hello, Detective Wright speaking." she said, sounding very tired.

"Ms. Wright, I need everything you know on the Jones case. I'm taking over for Phoenix." It was obvious in his tone that he was very serious about the whole ordeal.

"I'm about to go meet Mr. Jones at the detention center. If you're still at the police department I'd like to meet you there." Miles unlocked his car door and stepped in. "Is that fine with you?" Miles asked as he backed out of his parking place and was waiting to turn into the street.

Miles was talking so fast that it took Mai a second to realize it was him and then process exactly what he was saying.

"What? Is Phoenix alright? Something happened in that house during the earthquake, didn't it?" Mai said in worry.

_Well, he couldn't be all that fine if Miles is taking the case over for him..._Mai thought, still getting more worried.

"He's fine. He either fractured or broke his leg. A ceiling beam had fallen on his leg when the earthquake happened and he's unable to continue with the case anymore because of it," Miles said in a reassuring tone. "I was talking to him just a few minutes ago. Aside from that, will I be able to talk to you when I arrive?" He'd talk to Gumshoe there too if Gumshoe was available. He needed as much information as he could, finding that all the odds were against him already.

"Oh, yeah, of course. I'll help you as much as I can." Mai said, sounding relieved that Phoenix was at least mostly alright.

"Alright, I'll there in about half an hour." Miles hung up as he drove towards the detention center. _After this I'll have to go back to the crime scene. _

He suddenly wondered how'd he get in. They had probably closed off the place since it would be dangerous for anyone to be in the house at the time. He'd think about that later though. After finding a parking place, Miles headed into the building to see Fred.

"Excuse me, I'd like to see Fred Jones." Miles said to the officer who was on the other side of the bars.

The officer looked at Miles in slight surprise, since Phoenix had just been there earlier that day to see Fred.

"Jones seems to be quite popular today. Alright, one moment."

A few minutes later, the officer brought Fred Jones out of the door. Fred looked at Miles curiously, wondering exactly what he was doing here.

Seeing him brought in, Miles took a few seconds to look at Fred closely. He was a skinny man and a little pale. He had a medium brown hair which was cut short. His eyes were of the same color as his hair. From what he could see, Miles guessed that the man was in his late twenties or early thirties. He'd probably ask Mai for his actual age though.

"I bet you're wondering why I'm here. But first let me introduce myself. My name is Miles Edgeworth." He would've said that he was a prosecuting attorney, but it would be a useless detail as he was defending the defendant this time.

Suddenly a look of recognition flashed on Fred's face.

"Miles Edgeworth, as in, that crazy demon prosecuting attorney?" Fred said, now eyeing Miles with suspicion.

_I wouldn't say crazy..._Miles thought in slight annoyance._  
_  
"I didn't say I was a prosecuting attorney for a reason. Due to an accident that happened during the earthquake earlier today, Ph- umm…Mr. Wright is unable to defend you anymore. Because of this, I am now taking over your case."

_I come here to help and all I get are suspicious looks..._Miles thought in sarcasm, barely resisting the urge to glower at Fred.

Now Fred looked confused, not only because the Demon Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth was telling him that he would defend his case, but also because of how chummy this supposed rival with Phoenix seemed with him.

"What? You're defending me? What happened to Mr. Wright?" he asked in shock.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Yes, I'm defending you. He injured his leg while he was doing his investigation. A ceiling beam from the house containing the crime scene had fallen on his leg and he's now currently in the hospital." Miles was becoming impatient. _I'm the one who should be asking the questions, not him._

Miles wondered if all Phoenix's clients were like this.

"But, why would you want to defend me? That just doesn't make any sense...aren't you supposed to be his enemy or something?" Fred said, not able to quite understand why a feared prosecutor would suddenly want to take the place of a defense attorney, who seemed much more like he'd be Phoenix's foe rather than a friend.

"We are not enemies. Now look, this time can be better spent with you giving me information about your case rather than me discussing personal issues." Miles said slightly sourly, giving Fred a slightly annoyed look.

He had no time for his client to be nosy and curious about his personal life with Phoenix. Fred, on the other hand, was still slightly hung up on this, wondering if Miles was here to sabotage his case or something of the like.

Fred raised an eyebrow at Miles and said, "Why should I trust you? I heard things about you in court, and none of them were pretty."

This comment caused Miles to lose his cool slightly and he spoke without thinking, his tone annoyed, but yet concerned, "If Phoenix wasn't so determined to hobble into court tomorrow with a broken leg, then most likely injuring his other leg, I certainly wouldn't have convinced him to let me take your case."

When Fred raised his eyebrows in surprise to Miles's statement, he'd realized that he'd probably said entirely too much, and, very much in spite of himself, he felt a slight blush color his cheeks.

Fred noticed this immediately, and so he scrunched his eyebrows in confusion at Miles, quickly realizing that the relationship between this defense attorney and prosecutor ran much deeper than was depicted on TV.

Miles suddenly cleared his throat and said, all business again, with a touch of sarcasm in his tone, "So now if we can discuss the case, that would be most beneficial for the both of us."

Fred thought for an extra minute, and finally decided that if Phoenix trusted this person, then there would be no reason not to trust him himself. It wasn't like he had too many other options since no other lawyer would take his case.

Fred finally let out a sigh and said, "Okay, what do you need to know?"

"Were you at the crime scene at any point of time? Also, what were you doing the day of the crime?"

_If he wasn't at the crime scene at all, than where would the guy be? He couldn't have been at his home since the bloody clothes were found there..._Miles thought.

"I was never at the house! I was just...out." Fred started out saying defensively, and then ended his sentence vaguely.

"So you were never near the crime scene." Miles pondered at how vague Jones was about where he was, but decided if the man wasn't going to tell him where he was now, he very well wouldn't tell him if he asked again. "You weren't home most of the day, is that right?"

"No, I wasn't." Fred's voice had suddenly turned strangely somber.

"But you have to believe me, I had nothing to do with this. I heard what happened to them...I never...I just couldn't..." Fred started saying when tears started coming to his eyes when he remembered what the police told him of his parents' deaths.

Miles could tell the man wasn't lying.

"Alright Mr. Jones. I have no more questions to ask you." Miles said as he stood up. _Although I didn't get much to help me..._ "I'd also like to know if I could check your home if that's alright with you." I doubt I'll find anything there though...

"I think the police have already torn the place apart, but...sure." Fred replied, sounding strained.

"I'm sorry for the trouble." Miles left and went straight for the police department. Talking to Jones had been almost useless, except for the fact he had permission to investigate his home now. _Hopefully Ms. Wright will have more useful information..._

* * *

On the way to the police department, Miles's mind kept sticking to how vague Fred was when he answered his questions, realizing how much more difficult the first day of trial would be for him.

As Miles parked the car in the in the police department parking lot and got out, making sure his car doors were locked, he thought, _The more time I spend doing what Phoenix does on a regular basis, the more sorry I feel for him._

Miles entered the police department and suddenly realized he had no idea where Mai would be. _She's a detective like Gumshoe...so she probably would have a desk close to his..._

Mai was at her desk working on paper work when she saw Miles wandering around, presumably looking for her.

"Oh, Mr. Edgeworth." she said, calling his attention to himself.

Miles walked up to Mai.

"Hello Ms. Wright." He was glad he didn't have to walk around aimlessly too much. "If it isn't too much trouble to ask, may I have whatever evidence you have for the Jones case at this time?"

She gave him a half smile and said, "Well, I'm sure you know the drill...I'm really not supposed to be helping you, so you better keep to yourself how you got the information. I want to help since I know Phoenix wouldn't defend someone he knew was guilty. There's only a few things I can tell you right now. The analysis on the murder weapon came back and, thankfully, it had no recoverable fingerprints that matched Jones. But there is one witness we know about for sure who called in on 911 who saw Jones fleeing the scene."

Mai spoke grimly, knowing this would be a tough case for the defense.

_Great, there was a witness...  
_  
"I see." _That's odd...he said he wasn't near the crime scene at all, and it didn't seem like he was lying either. Something is definitely up..._ "Ms. Wright, could you find whatever information you can get on Mr. Jones family and himself and..." He paused for a second before continuing, "Do you think you can give me permission to investigate the crime scene again?" He knew it was dangerous to go in there and Mai might object to it, but he had to check the house for any stray clues.

"I'll get you whatever other information I can, but going back to the crime scene...I don't know, Mr. Edgeworth..." Mai said, sounding hesitant, "We saw what happened to Phoenix..."

"I know there's something back there that's been overlooked. I need to check it out Ms. Wright." Miles wasn't planning on going to the second floor though. "I don't intend to check the second floor. There might be something on the first floor..."

Mai let out a little sigh and said, "Oh, alright...but be careful, okay? It's my head if anything happens to you."

"Don't worry Ms. Wright, I'll be alright. Thank you for the information and the permission to investigate. Please call me if you find anything on Mr. Jones and his family." Miles knew there were some important clues somewhere in that house, and he intended to find them.

As Miles was leaving, Mai said, "Good luck, Mr. Edgeworth."

"Thanks, I think I'm going to need it." Miles left back to his car and went straight to the old house. Parking his car near the scene of the crime, Miles looked at the house with utter dislike. _Well, here goes..._ Miles locked the doors to his car and entered the old house.

Miles started investigating. He entered the living room. _It's so dusty here...The only thing that wasn't as dusty was the floor, which had many footsteps everywhere. I guess the police did a quick investigation down here. _

Miles checked the living room carefully, but found nothing. He then walked into the hallway. From the hallway he could check the kitchen and any of the first floor rooms.

"This is ridiculous..." He said quietly to himself, now feeling the pressure of the case bearing down on him.

As Miles walked into the hallway, something caught his eye. When he came to it, he found that it was something that looked like an arm. He picked it up, looking at it with confusion. _What the...  
_  
"What...is this?" Miles he muttered, looking at it closely. It was part of something for sure, as it looked like it was ripped from a larger item.

As he looked at it closely. He took in everything about it, the shape, size, color, anything that could help him find out what it was. _It's small so it belongs to something anyone could hold. The color is similar to skin, although the thing seems old and faded. _He also took in the fact it was fabric and it had cotton stuff into it. _Wait...is this a doll of some kind?  
_  
"This...is a doll arm. But if this is an arm..." Miles looked at it feeling more confused than when he didn't know what it was. "Where's the rest of the doll if this is a doll arm?" There was something about this house that he couldn't put his finger on, but he got the feeling that there was something that was missing that might be vital to this case.

Miles decided that he would keep the item for now, it might come in handy eventually. With that in mind, he checked the rest of the first floor. He found nothing of importance to his dismay. _I guess I'm done here then..._ He decided that he wouldn't go to the second floor and left the house. _ I'll check out Mr. Jones home now..._

* * *

The search at Fred's home was even worse than the search at the crime scene. He found absolutely nothing. _I guess I really am going to be Phoenix tomorrow. Relying purely on luck...  
_  
He wondered if Mai had found anything that he could use later to help him. For now, any evidence found was going to be against him unless something in the testimonies that said otherwise.

* * *

Miles walked into the court lobby tiredly. He hadn't gotten much sleep, too busy preparing for the trial. _And yet, I'm relying on my luck to get through today..._ Miles also had a distinct feeling if he did sleep more, it would have been plagued with nightmares of earthquakes and losing Phoenix.

He also realized he had no idea who the prosecutor for this trial would be.

_Why do I get the feeling that something bad is about to take place... _Miles pushed that thought out of his mind as it went back to how he was going to win this case.

* * *

Franziska had waited for this moment where'd she go against Phoenix Wright again. _This is my chance to beat that foolish fool. I'll make sure he has no where to run this time!_ She would confront the defense attorney to warn him that he wasn't going to win this case before they were called into the courtroom.

Franziska finally heard someone entering the courtroom lobby, so she tightened her grip on her whip and raised her head to make sure Phoenix Wright would make no mistake about who would emerge victorious from the courtroom today. But her mouth almost dropped open when her eyes settled on none other than Miles Edgeworth.

"Miles Edgeworth?" she asked in complete shock, forgetting for just one moment to be calm and collected.

_Well this explains my bad feeling. Of all the people he had to go against, it had to be Franziska.  
_  
"...Franziska," Miles said with a mix of surprise and sleepiness. He would have looked surprise himself if it weren't for the fact he was worried about the case. "So you're the one who took this case."

_Franziska is sharp, she'll find out why I took Phoenix's place somehow..._ He'd worry about that later, he wasn't worried she'd corner him today, as he had so many things to do that he wouldn't have time to answer her questions anyways.

Franziska narrowed her eyes at him, the confusion on her face gone as she went into analytical mode.

"What are you doing here? Where is Mr. Phoenix Wright?" she said, bluntly getting to the point.

_Always to the point..._Miles thought.

"Wright injured himself yesterday and is unable to do the case. At such short notice, no one else would probably take it, so I decided that I would take it." He remembered not to use Phoenix's first name this time, as that would be suspicious, especially to someone like Franziska. Not that taking the case in the first place wasn't suspicious...

"But you are a prosecuting attorney!" Franziska bit out, knowing that there had to be much more to this than Miles was letting on.

Finally her mind came to the conclusion it had been so desperately trying to avoid the moment that Miles stepped through the door of the courtroom lobby.

"Oh, no...you couldn't possibly be taking this case because...?" Franziska said slowly, almost afraid that saying it would make it true, her lip curling slightly in disgust.

_Damn, she thinks a lot faster than I thought she would._ Miles was pretty sure he knew what Franziska was thinking. _I should have known this was going to happen the second I saw Franziska though...  
_  
"Well you see," Miles started to say, "I..."

Suddenly their delightful exchange was interrupted by the court bailiff, who had also brought Fred Jones with him in handcuffs.

"Both of you can come in now." he said, opening the door to the courtroom.

Miles felt extremely relieved when they were told to enter the courtroom. _I have no idea what would happened if I told Franziska now...  
_  
Although relieved, it didn't make him much more energetic as he walked into the courtroom. _I'll win this case somehow...I have to for Phoneix…_ He wished he knew how though.

Miles, Franziska, and Fred walked into the courtroom, Franziska throwing Miles one last questioning glare before she took her place at the prosecuting table. Miles awkwardly walked over to the defense side, feeling extremely out of place. He put all these emotions out of his mind, now only wanting to focus on his case, knowing that the whole trial hinged on this day. If he found no contradictions in the witness testimonies, he was through.

_But with Franziska preparing the witnesses, this will be no easy feat..._Miles thought, preparing himself for the fight he knew lay ahead.

The courtroom soon went quiet as the judge walked in, sitting where he always sat.

"Court is now in session for the trial of Fred Jones," said the judge, still oblivious to who the new defense attorney was.

The judge paused before continuing.

"Are the prosecution and defense ready?"

Franziska gave the judge a haughty stare and said, "Of course."

Miles looked slightly unsurely at the judge, cleared his throat softly in an attempt to purge his nervousness and said, "Ahh, yes, the...defense is ready."

The judge looked like he might have died from shock. The whole courtroom was soon in a loud murmur as the judge tried regaining his composure.

"Wasn't Mr. Wright taking this case?" It was obvious that the question the judge really wanted to ask was, "…And aren't you a prosecutor Mr. Edgeworth?"

"Well, Mr. Wright was in an accident and so he was unable to come to court. I am merely filling in for him this time." Miles said awkwardly, as he felt all eyes in the courtroom on him.

The judge said nothing for a minute or so, finally shaking his head, banging his gavel to bring quiet to the courtroom, and continuing to speak.

"...Miss von Karma, your opening statement, please." There was nothing much else to say but to continue the trial.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Franziska gave the judge a look of grim determination and began to speak tersely, "Most of this trial seems like a foolish waste of time with all the evidence that exists against the defendant. The defendant was seen leaving the scene in blood stained clothes. These clothes, along with the murder weapon, were found later in the defendant's apartment. These facts leave no room for doubt in the defendant's guilt."

As she spoke of Fred Jones's guilt, she turned her eyes to Miles and gave him a glare, a taunting smile just barely tugging on her lips. This conveyed to Miles that she would not make things easy for him even if, or rather, especially because she considered him to be her brother.

Miles said nothing, knowing that the trial would have to continue regardless.

"Will the prosecutor please call the first witness to the stand?" The judge said.

The grim look did not leave Franziska's face as she said, "The prosecution calls Detective Mai Wright to the stand."

As Mai took her place on the stand, she tried to give Miles a look of support, although she wasn't sure if he saw it or not.

Franziska regarded Mai slightly sourly and thought in disdain, _One Wright was enough to deal with, and now there's another one? This one seems to be just as foolish as the first._

Franziska crossed her arms and looked at Mai almost threateningly as she said, "Witness, your name and occupation?"

"My name is Mai Wright. I'm a new detective at the local precinct." Mai was worried about how this case would go. She was sure Miles barely had enough evidence to help him and knew that most of the evidence currently given was against him.

Miles became incredibly focused on everything. He hoped that something in Mai's testimony would lead to questions that could help him. The look Mai had given him calmed him a bit, but not enough to be noticed.

_So this is what it's like to rely purely on the testimony and your own dumb luck..._Miles thought, preparing himself for the fight that was to come.

"Tell the court the details of the murder. Now." Franziska said, cracking her whip across the prosecutor's desk, wanting to show this Wright that any off topic comments would not be tolerated.

Mai nodded at Franziska seriously to show that she understood, and then she gestured to a map that had already been set up beside her as she introduced herself to the court.

"This map shows the lay out of the room in the old house that the murder took place in. This small bedroom is on the second floor at the end of the hall. It has one small window that opens out to the front yard of the house, an old dilapidated bed against the right wall of the room when entering, and one old dresser to the immediate right of the door." Mai said, pointing these things out on the map with a marker she held in her hand.

"During the time of the murder, it is surmised that the victims were lured somehow to this room, with the killer already waiting for them inside." Mai said, drawing circles representing the victims and the killer on the map.

"We have not ascertained exactly when the victims arrived to the scene of the murder, so we are not sure if the murder occurred immediately after they arrived or sometime after." Mai said, looking carefully at both Miles and Franziska.

Then she took a deep breath as she prepared to tell the court of the murder. She'd never dealt with a murder as horrifying or shocking as this one, so she hoped she could get through the testimony okay.

"This is the first time in my career I've ever had to deal with a murder this gruesome." Mai said grimly, taking another deep breath to continue her testimony, "It is believed that the victims first had various bones broken in their bodies, nothing fatal, but all of the breaks appeared to be extremely painful. The autopsy also showed that the victims also sustained numerous cuts all over their bodies, many of the cuts over major veins, which resulted in massive blood loss. This is believed to be the main cause of death. But after most of the victims' blood was lost, the killer hit them each with a blunt object, presumably the blunt edge of the murder weapon, and then proceeded to…"

Mai hesitated for a moment, but everyone in the court was silent and waiting for her to finish her testimony, so she pushed herself to continue.

"To…ummm…decapitate them." Mai paused again when she heard a few gasps in the courtroom from the audience, and she had to say that she didn't blame them for being shocked.

Mai took another deep breath as she saw everyone looking at her seriously and quietly, waiting for her to continue talking. This made her feel extremely on the spot, but she knew she had to keep going, so she did.

"The defendant was apprehended on the same night as the murder after we searched his house and found the clothes he committed the murder in and the murder weapon. The arrest felt rather strange to me, but since we had no other suspects and the weapon and clothes were found right in his house, we had no choice but to arrest him."

The judge took in Mai's testimony, finding the murder rather hard to stomach himself. Finally he spoke.

"So this is how the murder took place. How unfortunate." he said in a slightly grim voice, "Well, alright. Mr. Edgeworth, you may cross examine the witness."

Miles paused, finding the whole testimony extremely gruesome.

_How could someone do such a thing?_ He thought, carefully considering what he needed to ask, _I need more information on the whole murder itself..._

"Ms. Wright, who were the murder victims?"

Mai picked up a file she was holding and handed it to the bailiff, telling him to give it to Miles.

"This is the autopsy report. The victims were Rick and Lucy Jones, the parents of the defendant." Mai said seriously, glancing over at Fred, who was sitting beside Miles in the courtroom.

Miles looked over the autopsy report carefully. "What was the weapon that was used to murder the victims?"_This case is getting more and more complicated as it continues..._

Franziska tightened her grip on her whip.

"I object! What a foolish question! Why should the identification of the murder weapon be important? We already have been told how the victims met their gruesome deaths. It would not make a difference if you knew such petty details!"

"Objection!" Miles yelled, banging his hands on the desk in front of him, "The identity of the recovered murder weapon is very important so it can be ascertained if it was the only one weapon used during the murder or if there were more than one!"

"Alright, the defense's objection is sustained." the judge said, "Ms. Wright, please answer Mr. Edgeworth's question."

"The murder weapon that was found was a large butcher's knife," Mai said grimly, "We believe that it was the only weapon used during the murders since shape of the handle matches the injuries to the victims' bodies, and the sharp edge had blood from both victims all over it."

Miles thought carefully and then he asked his next question, "Were the defendant's fingerprints found anywhere on the murder weapon?"

Mai shook her head. "We analyzed the evidence, but the murder weapon was clear of any finger prints."

Miles was internally relieved to finally have some evidence that appeared to be more in his favor than not, but one look at the smug, confident smirk on Franziska's face banished the feeling pretty quickly.

_I know Franziska too well to even think for a second that she over looked this bit of information._ Miles thought, narrowing his eyes at Franziska just slightly.

The next words out of Franziska's mouth confirmed Miles's thought.

"Mr. Miles Edgeworth. It is quite obvious that the murderer wore gloves while he committed the murder. That is not uncommon among murderers that do not want to be caught." Franziska said, looking at Miles like he was an absolute fool, her voice just as smug as the expression on her face.

Miles slammed his hand against the table.

"If he was wearing gloves, why were they not recovered with the murder weapon and bloody clothes?!" Miles looked at Franziska seriously, his eyes determined.

Franziska did not seem fazed in the slightest by Miles's determination, the smug look never leaving her face as she spoke, raising a mocking eyebrow at Miles, "The location of the gloves does not change the fact that the defendant brutally murdered his parents and expected to get away with it. This line of questioning is a foolish waste of the court's time."

"Mr. Edgeworth, please continue with your cross examination. And please don't waste time as this is an important matter." It was obvious that the judge was afraid of Franziska.

Miles glared as Franziska still looked at him smugly, but then he sighed and said, "Yes, your honor."

Miles took a second to gain his bearings again, and then asked his next question, "Ms. Wright. You mentioned that the arrest of the defendant felt strange. Why was that?"

Mai paused for a minute. "When we came to arrest him, he was looked extremely confused. He acted as though he had no idea a murder had even occurred that day. When we had looked around his place and we found the murder weapon and blood stained clothes, he had the look of pure shock. It was as though the articles we found didn't belong to him at all."

Miles digested this information, feeling like this was something he could turn to his favor.

"Ms. Wright, if the arrest felt so strange, why was he taken into police custody without further investigation into the matter of whether he should be held in jail or not?" Miles asked, his eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion.

"We received a phone call from someone who had not only witnessed him flee the scene of the crime, but also got into an altercation with him to prevent him from fleeing," Mai replied as she furrowed her brows thinking back to that day.

Miles's eyes widened in surprise in spite of himself at this news.

_Great, not only were the bloody clothes and the murder weapon found at his apartment, the witness supposedly even got in a fight with my defendant. God, Phoenix…what have you gotten me into?_ Miles thought in annoyance, realizing that his case just got so much tougher.

Miles took a deep breath to get his thoughts in order and then he spoke again, his voice calm and even, as if he wasn't worried in the slightest, "Was the defendant told the reason for his arrest?"

"Yes, we did tell him the reason for his arrest. He denied that he was anywhere near the scene of the crime and that he involved in the fight," she answered firmly.

Miles thought carefully about what he was just told and suddenly felt like he was on something.

"Ms. Wright, were there any signs he was in a fight at all?" This would be a very crucial detail for Miles.

Mai paused as she was deep in thought. "Actually, he didn't -" Mai was cut short as Franziska had cracked her whip.

"Objection!" Franziska said, cutting off Mai completely, "The state of the defendant after the crime is not as important as the incriminating evidence found right in the defendant's apartment!"

With how quickly Franziska objected to this line of questioning, Miles knew that she must have been hiding something.

"Objection!" Miles said with narrowed eyes, "The state of the defendant right after the crime is an important detail that must not be overlooked in this case. The other evidence found in his apartment may have been planted there."

The judge seemed to be thinking carefully on his decision. "Objection sustained for the defense. Please continue Ms. Wright."

Mai nodded and finished what she started saying, "The defendant didn't look like he was in a fight. He had no injuries that would show it at least."

Miles scrunched his eyebrows slightly in thought, finally saying, "Didn't this strike you, or any of the other detectives, as odd, Ms. Wright? Usually when someone is in a physical altercation, they sustain some sort of injury or bruising as a result."

Mai was about to reply to Miles's comment when she was suddenly cut off by Franziska.

"Objection! This is a useless line of questioning! It is obvious that the witness in the altercation was easily overpowered by the defendant." she said to the judge in an irritated tone, snapping her whip on the ground.

"Objection sustained. I believe Miss von Karma is correct, though she could have been a bit nicer in saying this." the Judge said slightly warily, clearly afraid of Franziska's whip, "Ms. Wright, you may leave the stand now." He paused before continuing. "Do you have any other questions for the witness, Mr. Edgeworth?"

Miles saw Franziska giving him a smug smile, causing him to narrow his eyes at her for a moment, but then he spoke, "No further questions, your honor."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The Judge gave Miles a little nod of acknowledgement and said, "Will the prosecution call the next witness?"

When Mai left the stand, Franziska cracked her whip in the air and said, "The prosecution calls the witness who got into the physical altercation with the defendant to the stand."

_Franziska__ definitely got lucky there, but I bet I was on to something._  Miles thought as he watched the next witness take the stand, _It__ obviously doesn't make any sense that Jones did not show any signs of injury when he was apprehended._

Miles studied the witness carefully as he took the stand, finding the man's clothes looking rather worn and rumpled, his hair to be quite long and messy, and his face looking rather dirty and scruffy.  In addition to looking very down on his luck, something about the man struck Miles as very familiar to the point of making him wonder if he had somehow seen this man somewhere before. 

When the man got up on the stand, Franziska snapped her whip on the ground and roughly said, "Witness!  Name and occupation!"

The poor witness shrunk away from her slightly and replied in a timid voice, "My name is Tom Cozen.  That's about all I have right now, other than the clothes on my back."

Franziska looked like she could sense the fear of the witness from the little smirk on her face, snapping her whip near the witness to make him jump as she said, "Now tell the court what you saw!"

The witness gave Franziska a slightly frightened look, and then spoke softly, "Well, since I really don't have a single thing in my name, finding a place to sleep at night is quite a challenge.  On the night of the murder, I happened to pick the old house on top of the hill since the police that patrol the parks at night aren't so friendly to those a little more unfortunate."

As the witness made his last comment, he shot an accusatory glare at Mai, who just looked back in surprise, not knowing exactly how to react to that.

After he was finished glaring at Mai, he went on, speaking in a somber tone, "When I was making my way up to the house, I'd say it was about 9, and I heard this huge commotion.  Suddenly I saw the defendant running out of house with this scary look in his eyes and he was covered in blood.  I knew something horrible must have happened in that house, so I tried to stop him."

When the witness mentioned Fred, he seemed to get even more somber as he continued, "The defendant and I struggled a little bit, but he overpowered me and ran off.  But in the struggle, I happened to grab off his coat and I found that his wallet was inside it.  This is when I called the police and gave them the information that I found on the ID in the wallet."

The witness then glanced nervously at the judge to indicate he was done with his testimony, and in response the judge said with real sympathy, "Oh, how unfortunate.  Ahh, yes, Mr. Edgeworth, you may cross examine the witness."

_Great.__  The judge looks like he's already on the witness's side._ Miles thought in annoyance.

Miles then looked down at the evidence papers in front of him as he thought of what questions he could ask to uncover the lies that were in the witness's testimony.

"Mr. Cozen.  You said that you went to that house to find a place to sleep that night, correct?  I've been to that house myself, and it is falling apart.  That house would only be a suitable place to sleep if you didn't mind it caving in on you in the middle of the night." Miles said, looking at him in slight disbelief.

At this question, the witness gave Miles a somewhat bitter look and replied, "You probably don't understand this, Mr. Rich Lawyer, but some people don't have much of a choice in where they live or sleep."

Miles did not let the witness's jab phase him, he just raised his eyebrow at him slightly and went on to his next question, deciding that this particular line of questioning would get him nowhere.

"One thing I've also noticed is almost a one and a half hour time difference between the time of death of the victims and your call to the police.  You said yourself that you encountered the defendant around 9 o'clock.  Why wait so long to call the police if, as you mentioned in your testimony, he was 'covered in blood' and had 'a scary look in his eye'?" Miles said thoughtfully as he narrowed his eyes slightly at the witness in suspicion.

Something about the witness struck Miles as odd, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.  Before Miles could think about this anymore, the witness began to answer his question with just a touch of uncertainty in his voice.

"I…I…well, during the confrontation…" the witness started to speak nervously, as if he was trying to think of what would be best for him to say, but then suddenly his tone changed to be much more confident, if not sympathy seeking, "I was knocked out during the fight.  So…when the defendant was running off…I'd grabbed off his coat and passed out.  As soon as I regained consciousness I went to call the police."

The witness seemed to be giving Miles a thinly veiled smug smile, and now Miles could really see how irritated Phoenix must get dealing with such witnesses constantly during a trial.  Miles quickly put that out of his mind as he tried to think of what else he could ask the witness, since at this point, things looked very bad for his client.

"But there are no records of you going to the hospital for any kind of head injury…I would think that you would have suffered a concussion at the least since you passed out during the scuffle." Miles said, knowing he was grasping a bit now.

The witness seemed to be just slightly put off by Miles's question, but, unfortunately, this time Franziska stepped in.

"Objection!  Mr. Miles Edgeworth is just badgering the witness.  It is quite obvious that the witness would not have gone to a hospital after the incident since he would not have been able to afford the hospital care, being homeless as he is now," Franziska said smugly, sarcasm dripping from her tone at first, and then he tone turned forceful as she brandished her whip at the judge, "I suggest you hand down your verdict now since there has been sufficient evidence collected against the defendant and this witness testimony corroborates this evidence!  There is no reason for the delay of justice the defense is trying to cause!"

The judge gave Franziska and her whip a frightened look and then he turned to Miles.  During this time Franziska gave him a self-righteous look that Miles definitely did not miss.

"Mr. Edgeworth, are you done cross-examining the witness?  If you are, there really doesn't appear to be any reason to delay the verdict, as Miss von Karma so colorfully pointed out."

_I have to at least make the trial last another day, otherwise it's all over!_  Miles thought, now getting a bit more frantic since things seemed to be coming down to the line now.

"No, I am not done cross-examining the witness!" Miles said a little more anxiously than he wished, then clearing his throat and calming down as he continued, "I…have some other vital questions I wanted to ask."

"Alright, but please try not to waste this court's time." The judge said warily, glancing once more at Franziska gripping her whip.

Miles gave the judge a nod, and then he looked down again at his notes and evidence.

_What can I ask?  I'm basically in a corner here.  I really have nothing…does this mean my client is indeed guilty then?  But Phoenix believed in him, so now I have to believe in him for Phoenix._  Miles thought, his motivation to go on suddenly renewed.

At this point, Miles looked up at the witness hoping for something or anything to come to him before he spoke, when it suddenly hit him what was off about the witness.  The witness was still giving him an arrogant look, to which Miles now gladly returned with a smirk.

Franziska quickly noticed that look on Miles's face, so she knew that he now had something up his sleeve to ruin her perfect case.  She would have liked to object, but the judge had already given him permission to finish his cross-examination of the witness, so she had no choice now but to wait.

"Mr. Cozen." Miles said with his tone now cool and confident, the smirk never leaving his face, "You seem to have some rather nice clothes for a homeless man.  Most of the homeless people I've seen have devoted much less effort towards their appearance."

The witness looked at Miles curiously, also noticing the sudden change in his tone and expression.

But with Miles looking at him like he was waiting for some sort of reply, the witness nervously spoke, "Umm…thank you."

Miles's smirk grew just a little bit larger as he got ready to say his next sentence, and Franziska knew that her witness was in trouble as Miles went in for the kill, so she decided to try to stop that.

"Objection!  The defense is obviously trying to make a mockery of the witness!  I demand that this cross examination ends right now!" Franziska said in obvious annoyance, snapping her whip on the ground as she glared at Miles and the judge.

The judge's eyes went from Franziska's whip to Miles, but before the judge could speak, Miles stopped him by saying assertively with slight sarcasm, looking briefly at the judge and then focusing on Franziska, "I am merely continuing my cross-examination of the witness, if the prosecution would be gracious enough to allow me to finish speaking."

The judge took a deep breath as he noticed the look on Franziska's face, speaking very carefully, "Objection denied.  Please continue, Mr. Edgeworth."

"Earlier in your testimony, you said that your altercation with the perpetrator, whom you said was 'covered in blood', was so intense that you actually lost consciousness," Miles said, his voice touched with a bit of sarcasm, "Now, the reason why I commented on your clothes earlier is that, as would be quite logical to assume, your clothes would have many blood stains on them from such an altercation, but, as everyone here can clearly see, your clothes are in the most pristine condition that can be expected from a homeless man."

The witness gasped in shock when he realized the mistake he made in his testimony, and he started stuttering as he frantically tried to cover this error, "I-I…just changed my clothes for court…yeah…"

Miles looked at the witness in mocking amusement, barely resisting the urge to laugh at him as he continued to speak derisively, "Well, that's interesting…especially since one of your first comments during your testimony was that 'you don't have a single thing to your name'.  Now, this makes me believe that a significant part of your testimony must be a lie."

"What?!  No…I…I mean…well…" the witness's fumbling of words becoming much more frequent as he realized there would be no way he could talk his way out of this.

"Objection!" Franziska suddenly yelled out, her whip flying in the judge's direction to get his attention, "It is absolutely ridiculous to begrudge a man for having nice clothes!"

Franziska realized this glaring hole in her witness's testimony after he said it, and she silently decided that the homeless man would be getting whipped as soon as court got out for running off his mouth when she had already discussed with him the perfect testimony that he was to give.

"Objection!  I do not care in the slightest of the cleanliness of the man's clothes, I have just pointed out a serious contradiction in the witness's testimony!" Miles cried in return, his confidence renewed now that he saw a way to prolong the trial for at least one more day so that he could figure out exactly what happened in that house, "Also, the prosecution has provided no motive for my client to murder his parents in such a horrendous fashion."

Even with Franziska being a good distance away from the judge, he tried to shy just a bit away from her in his chair, her glare making him feel very uncomfortable.

"It appears that Mr. Edgeworth is correct.  I think the prosecution should interview other people close to the defendant to get to the bottom of a possible motive.  I have also found the contradiction in the witness's testimony to be worrisome, so I order both the prosecution and the defense to investigate further into this matter.  For now, the court is in recess and will reconvene in two days time."

The judge hurriedly brought down his gavel and vacated his seat, wanting to get out of range of Franziska's whip as soon as possible.  Miles let out a sigh of relief as he walked out of the courtroom, glad that he had the extra day in court, but he knew the real fight was still ahead of him.  To get his client acquitted, he would have to find the actual killer.  Before Miles had the chance to feel even more tired, Franziska suddenly approached him and brandished her whip.

"How dare you ruin my perfect case!" she said in extreme annoyance, whipping the ground to further express her feelings.

Miles knew that he did not have the time, energy or patience to deal with Franziska in this moment, so replied simply in a tired tone, "The truth is much more important than any perfect case, Franziska.  I would think you'd know that by now.  Now, if you'll excuse me…"

Miles did not even wait for Fraziska to reply.  He quickly walked off and made his way to his car, leaving her looking at him in annoyance and slight disbelief that he left so abruptly.

"Do not ignore me, Miles Edgeworth!!" Franziska yelled after him, whipping the floor with her whip again, barely controlling her urge to hit Miles with it, "And mark my words!!  I will find out why you took the case from that foolish fool Mr. Phoenix Wright!"

"Good bye, Franziska!" Miles yelled back at her, then quickly retreating to his car before she could force any information out of him.

As soon as Miles got in the driver's seat and put a safe distance between himself and the courthouse, he let out a little sigh, finally letting himself feel the relief of the extra day he won in court.  But he knew that this was only the beginning.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Miles decided to drive straight to the hospital to check on Phoenix and to relay to him everything that had happened in today's trial.

_Maybe he can help me decide what I should do next…_Miles thought, quickly realizing now that Phoenix's job was a lot tougher than it seemed.

Finally he parked his car in the hospital parking lot, and then briskly made his way up to Phoenix's room. When Miles entered, he looked to Phoenix's bed, and saw that Phoenix was taking a nap. As he noticed this, he approached the bed and pulled up a chair beside Phoenix quietly, just taking a moment to watch him sleep.

It had been a while since Miles had the chance to watch Phoenix this way, silently taking in Phoenix's peaceful and handsome face and every steady breath Phoenix took. Miles felt his heart clench as his mind reeled back to how worried he felt when Phoenix did not pick up his phone during the earthquake, not knowing what he would do if Phoenix was ever taken from him.

He shook his head slightly to dispel this line of thought, knowing that now was not the time to let these sorts of thoughts cloud his mind. As he continued to look at Phoenix, Miles realized that he hadn't seen Phoenix looking this peaceful in a very long time. Miles looked at him lovingly, feeling like he could look at him forever this way, but he knew the case would not wait.

He bent his head closer to Phoenix's as he gently placed a hand on his face. Phoenix did not wake up, but a small smile touched his lips and he snuggled slightly into Miles's hand. Miles found this absolutely adorable and he could not resist the urge to plant a soft kiss on his forehead, forgetting for just a moment that he was in a hospital. At this kiss, Phoenix began to stir, letting out a soft groan at being woken up.

"Phoenix…" Miles said softly, cupping his cheek a little tighter as Phoenix got up.

Phoenix blinked, trying to banish the sleep from his eyes, when his eyes focused on Miles.

"Hey, Miles…" Phoenix said with a small grin.

"Hey." Miles returned in a soft tone.

Phoenix carefully repositioned himself in the bed so that he could be sitting up, and then his tone turned serious as he asked with just a bit of trepidation, "So how did the trial go?"

Miles let out a tired sigh as he thought about the events in the trial that happened that day and said, "I did win us the extra day in court since I proved that the supposed witness to the murderer leaving the scene was obviously lying, but things still aren't looking very favorable for us. There's still the fact that bloody clothes were found in Jones's house that matched the blood types of both of his parents and the fact that he was sketchy when I asked him where he was during the crime."

Phoenix took all of this information in, carefully thinking about what Miles could do next.

"I know it's going to be difficult, since all of my clients seem to be like this, but you have to find out where Jones was during the murder." Phoenix said with his brow furrowed in thought, wishing he could give Miles a better idea of what to do next.

He suddenly felt a little guilty about Miles having to go through all this trouble for him, but he knew that Miles would do everything to the best of his abilities and would come through for him.

As Phoenix was thinking, Miles finally spoke again, "Also, when I searched the first floor of that house, I found this."

Miles reached into a coat pocket to pull out the item, and then he handed it to Phoenix.

Phoenix turned it over and over in his hands when he finally figured out what it was, speaking in a surprised tone, "This looks like…a stuffed doll arm?"

"That's also what I think it is. I have a feeling this relates to the case somehow, but I'm not quite sure how just yet. I figured I could ask Detective Gumshoe to help me search the downstairs more thoroughly since he is not on this case." Miles said, taking the doll arm back from Phoenix and putting it back in his coat pocket.

"I think that's a good idea. It looks like we're going to need all the information we can get." Phoenix said, looking slightly worried.

"Tomorrow I'm sure the prosecution will have come up with a motive for Jones to have murdered his parents, since today I pointed out that there was no motive presented." Miles said in a thoughtful tone, "This is when Jones's alibi will especially be important."

"Who is the prosecution anyway?" Phoenix asked, suddenly curious.

Miles seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again, "I really must get going to the detention center to talk with Jones since visiting hours must almost be over. Then I have to get back to that house."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow at Miles when he completely avoided his question about the prosecution, but he decided not to push it now since it was true that Miles had little time to get everything together for the next day of trial. Miles broke eye contact with Phoenix to look out of the window so he wouldn't feel Phoenix's questioning gaze on him, grateful that Phoenix didn't keep at it, not wanting to worry Phoenix with Franziska's arrival just yet.

Miles stood up from the chair he was sitting in and said, "Well, I will be back again to update you on the trial. Bye…"

As Miles began to turn away, Phoenix grabbed his hand.

"Hey…good luck on the trial. I know you'll uncover the truth." Phoenix said, giving Miles's hand a small squeeze.

Miles gave Phoenix a half smile and squeezed his hand back, feeling just a bit of comfort in Phoenix's vote of confidence. With that, he let go of Phoenix's hand and left the room, making his way to the detention center.

* * *

Miles was definitely not looking forward to another visit with Jones, but this time he would get the answers he was looking for, knowing that the guilt or innocence of his client depended heavily on this knowledge. He took quick and confident strides into the detention center, wanting to come off strong to Fred to prevent him from dodging his questions this time around.

He asked the officer on duty if he could see Fred, and this officer soon brought Fred out into the visiting area so they could talk. As soon as they were seated and given a bit of privacy, Jones started to talk in a slightly excited tone.

"Man, I heard about you being good in court, but to see you in action, that was something else. I thought my goose was cooked until you showed that witness was lying! Mr. Wright was right to choose you to take his place."

Miles just made an uncomfortable noise when Fred praised him, and replied seriously as he raised an eyebrow at Fred, "Thank you for the praise, Mr. Jones, but this trial is far from over. Now, I need you to tell me exactly where you were during the crime, or else you might as well get used to living behind bars."

Fred's demeanor suddenly changed when Miles jumped directly to the point, now sounding rather defensive when he said, "Look, like I said, I was never anywhere near the crime scene, okay? And you proved how that witness was lying yourself. What else can that prosecutor say?"

Miles gave Fred an impatient look and replied, "If you think this slight bump in the road is going to stop the prosecution, you are sadly mistaken. She will find a motive and she will produce more proof that will make it look like you were the murderer without a doubt."

This comment from Miles silenced Fred immediately, and Miles continued what he wanted to say.

"Now, Mr. Jones, tell me where you were." Miles said calmly, but with a slight edge, trying to convey how serious things really were.

Fred broke eye contact with Miles and seemed to fidget in his seat, looking very uncomfortable.

"You don't think…I actually…killed them like that, do you?" Fred said, his tone now completely different, sounding hurt and lost.

Miles barely resisted letting out a sigh, getting a little frustrated with how he felt like he'd come full circle already, and with the fact that he was no good comforting practical strangers in this way.

"Of course not. I would not be defending you if that was the case." Miles said evenly with just a touch of awkwardness, trying not to upset Fred further, but still trying to get the information he wanted, "Now, please tell me what you were doing on the day of the murder."

"I…umm…well…worked with my dad in his pharmaceutical company, you know, Jones Pharmaceuticals? And, I guess I was in charge of overseeing production of new drugs." Fred said hesitantly, deciding the only place he could start on this story was in the beginning.

"You…guess? How could you be unsure of what your job is exactly?" Miles said, looking at Fred in slight confusion and suspicion.

Fred then looked embarrassed and slowly said, "Look, I didn't take my job very seriously. I just…I did whatever my dad told me to do."

"I see." Miles said evenly, waiting for Fred to continue talking.

"But, anyway…I wanted to show my dad that I really could contribute something to the company, so I wanted to close a deal that would allow us to start production on a new drug right away. I didn't tell my dad anything about it since I wanted it to be somewhat of a surprise. But in the end…I…didn't end up doing it." Fred said, breaking eye contact with Miles.

"And why not?" Miles asked, curious as to how this all related to the case.

"Umm…because…" Fred seemed very hesitant to go on, but he could see that Miles would definitely not let him off the hook, so he quietly continued, "Because I would have had to make a deal with some people to get a hold of a particular plant to start production on the drug."

"What's the problem with that?" Miles asked, narrowing his eyes at Fred slightly.

"The problem would be that it hadn't exactly been approved by the FDA. If I got a hold of this plant, I would have started production on the drug, hoping that we'd be able to get it approved after production started." Fred replied, looking away from Miles, seeming slightly ashamed.

"That seems like an awful risk." Miles said, looking very seriously at his client, wondering how he could have overlooked what a dangerous a deal it would have been, not only for himself, but all the people that may have taken the drug.

"I know…I realized that after I'd set up the time and day to make the deal…I met with the people and told them that I couldn't go through with it." Fred said, finally looking back at Miles.

Miles considered this and then said, "I see. But what did you do after that? The murder took place during the evening."

"I just went--" Fred started speaking normally, but he suddenly stopped, his eyes looking just a bit shifty, "I...I went for a walk."

Miles didn't buy that for a second, and his tone indicated as much. "Just a walk?"

Suddenly sounding very defensive Fred replied, "Yeah. I almost made a big mistake making that business deal. I just wanted...some time to think over my next move."

"And I assume no one saw you while you were out on this walk, Mr. Jones?" That was, Miles thought, assuming he even went for said walk, which the attorney found doubtful at the moment.

"N-no the, uhh, park...was empty at the time." Fred said, sounding just a bit nervous, not meeting Miles' eyes as he spoke.

Miles took a deep breath mentally counting backwards from ten. "I see. And where did you go after this walk?"

"I just...went home." Fred said, not sounding all that convincing, but it was obvious that he did not want to elaborate.

_How does Wright put up with this?_ Miles rubbed his forehead but continued anyway. "Around what time was this? And did anyone happen to see you that can confirm your time?"

"I don't know what time it was. It was late." Fred said, sounding just a little put off.

"Of course." Miles gave the man a withering look. "So according to you, after this deal fell through, you went for a walk in the park, then came home at an undetermined late hour, is that correct?"

"Yeah...I guess that's it." Fred said, his tone just a bit sad.

_I think it's safe to say I'm not going to get anything more out of him without some evidence to confront him with._ Sighing, Miles got up, preparing to end the questioning. "I can say that right now your story is on shaky ground, and the prosecution would rip it up inside of two minutes. However, there may be some evidence that will help our side, so if I were you, I'd start hoping that it's found very quickly."

Fred didn't say anything else and just gave Miles a stubborn look in response.

Miles turned to go, only to pause for a moment, his back to Jones. "Mr. Jones, do you know one of the fundamental things a defense attorney must establish with their client?"

"What?" Fred asked, not expecting the extra words from Miles.

"Trust. A client has to trust that the attorney is working for their best interest. And the attorney has to trust that the client is being honest with them. Please... think about that, Mr. Jones." Miles didn't say anymore as he leaves, heaving another sigh once he's outside the detention centre. "Wright so owes me for this."

Miles rubbed his temples, then pulled out his cell while grumbling about witnesses and defense lawyers with broken legs and bad luck. He was still grumbling to himself when he dialed Gumshoe's phone, hoping the officer would pick up quickly.


End file.
